Tracing the ownership of these cottages was a challenge. The cottage on the corner
of School Lane and Preston Green (in the foreground of the above photograph) was
probably owned by Thomas Browne in 1664 - being described as ‘a house (named ‘Homehouse’)
on Preston Green and orchard’ with the relatively high manorial rent of £1 7s 4d.
After the Hearth Tax was introduced, it was taxed as having two chimneys in 1663.
Probably the house and orchard occupied a substantial area as the owner of the house
that is the Red Lion today paid rent of only 18/-, which included three acres of
land. By 1714, ‘Homehouse’ was owned and occupied by the widow, Mary Browne.

Then, in the late 1660s,Thomas Browne gave up part of his land and had two properties
built on it, one of which which he gave/sold to Robert and Catharine Brown together
with 16 poles of land. The other cottage came into the possession of ‘the widow,
Browne’. These had evidently been erected before 1670, as both Robert and the Widow
Browne were exempted from Hearth Tax in that year.

In turn, both of these two cottages were sold to Andrew Bowstred in 1681. He sold
the larger property, which had been converted into three homes, to John Austin in
around 1697. The smaller cottage was later purchased by Mary Browne before 1714.

Thus, the ‘Survey of Temple Dinsley Rents 1714’, shows Mary Brown owning two properties
with rents of £1 1/- and 1/6d and John Austin owning a property with a rent of 4/6d
- making a combined rent of the three properties of £1 7s 0d - which is 4d short
of the rent Thomas Browne was paying for his home and orchard in 1664. (I note Stephen
Swain, owner of the adjacent ‘Red Lion’, was paying rent of 4d for property/land
in 1714) Incidentally, the three properties were listed consecutively in the 1714
Survey - which perhaps indicates their proximity.

Cottage 1 on the corner of School Lane and Preston Green - “Homehouse”

1662 - owned by Dennis Browne

1663 - owned by Thomas Browne. Described as a house on Preston Green and orchard
with a

manorial rent of £1 17s 4d. Paid Hearth Tax for two chimneys.

1691 - owned by John Browne from father, Thomas.

1692 - owned and occupied by Mary Browne (probably wife of John Browne)

1714 - still owned by ‘widow, Mary Browne’ with rent of £1 1/-. Included an acre
of pasture with outhouses, edifices, barns, stables, yards waters and
watercourses etc.

1719 - owned by Robert Brown on death of mother, Mary.

? - owned by John Newman

1769 - left to Samuel Newman.

1793 - purchased by Stephen Swain for £46 at an auction at the Sun Hotel, Hitchin..
Occupied ‘previously

by Jeremiah Gazeley and Joseph Ward and now by William Ward’ (1793). Rent
still £1 1/-.

1811 - Stephen Swain sold the acre of land associated with the property to Joseph
Saunderson.

1835 - Stephen Swain mortgaged the property (which had been divided into three dwellings)
to Joseph

Morgan Pierson for £100.

1835 - bequeathed to Stephen’s daughter, Priscilla Swain.

1873 - owned by Joseph Darton.

A comparison of the maps above and their awards tells the story of these cottages
along School Lane, all of which had been constructed by the 1660s.

On the 1811/16 map, there were just three holdings (consisting of four cottages which
are labelled above) which were occupied by five households -1 had three households
alone. However, in 1825, these same sub-divided cottages housed no less than ten
households.

By 1898, after some alterations, seven households lived along this lane. Ladies from
two different households occupying 1are shown in the photograph at their front doors.
So, how could so many live in so few homes?

The answer can be found in the 1911 census and the Inland Revenue Survey of 1910.
Cottages 2, 3 and 4 had been sub-divided into two-roomed dwellings with only a kitchen
and a bedroom. Yet whole families lived in these homes. At home labelled 3751, farm
labourer Leonard Peters existed with his wife and four children aged between 4 and
8 years. Next door, another labourer, Robert Crawley squeezed into another two-roomed
property with his wife and five children. That these homes were soon to be demolished
speaks volumes as to their dilapidated state - indeed in 1891 three of these cottages
were uninhabited.

1

3

4

2

The outline of the property and its gardens is clearly shown on the 1898 map. There
was also a well in one garden. In 1910, each property (which was owned by RDV Pryor)
was described thus:

3755 - brick and tiled cottage with kitchen, pantry and two bedrooms occupied by
Mary Ann Palmer and five others.

3756 - brick and tiled cottage with kitchen and bedroom occupied by George Turner.

3757 - brick and tiled cottage with kitchen and bedroom, formerly occupied by William
Boston, his son and grandson, now by Osbourne.

All were in poor condition.

Cottage 2/3

This (3751/2) was owned by Joseph Darton in 1811, but the earlier history of its
owners is unclear.

In 1898, the sub-division of these cottages was clearly shown (left).

The 1910 Inland Revenue survey noted this:

3753 - brick and tiled cottage with kitchen and bedroom. In poor repair. Occupied
by

J Nash.

3754 - brick and tiled cottage with kitchen and bedroom. In poor repair. Occupied
by Palmer (William Jenkins has been crossed out which probably indicates that he
was a previous occupier)

Both properties were owned by RDV Pryor.

Cottage 4

The position of this cottage in relation to Preston School is shown on the 1898 map(left, however, part of this cottage should be labelled 3752 as this number is missing
on the map).

Thus, in 1805, Henry Mardlin owned both cottages. By 1807, he had mortgaged them
to William Sheaf of Kings Walden.

In 1810, Henry again mortgaged the property to John Hawkins of Hitchin for £110.
It was to be held in trust to Joseph Darton who became its new owner.

1821 - occupied by Elizabeth Ward (widow) and Thomas Lawrence, who were still living
there in 1827.

When Thomas Darton sold the Temple Dinsley estate to the Pryor family in 1873, these
cottages were included in the sale. However, it is impossible to pinpoint their occupiers
until 1910, but its owner was Ralston de Vin Pryor.

There were two cottages - the one to the east, occupying 25 poles, was occupied by
Jesse Smith. John Jeeves lived in the cottage to the west which utilised 21 poles.
Both were described as being brick and tile cottages with a kitchen, pantry, two
bedrooms and a garden. They were demolished by Herbert Fenwick in around 1908.

On their plot, in 1918, Crunnells Green House was built for the manager of the Temple
Dinsley estate. Although not boasting the typical Lutyens chimney stacks, this impressive
detached house is listed as being designed by Lutyens. Indeed, when sold in 1945
as part of the Minsden Estate, the Sale Particulars described it as having been ‘designed
by the late Sir Edward Lutyens’.

In 1945, the ground floor comprised: a porch with tiled floor; a hall; a dining room
(18’ by 14’) with an open grate; a lounge (14’ by 17’ 3’’) with an open grate and
double fitted cupboards; a drawing room (18’ x 6’’ by 13’ 9’’) with open brick grate;
an office (17’ x 14’ 3’’); a gentleman’s cloakroom; a kitchen with a tiled floor;
and a scullery, butler’s pantry and larder. On the first floor were six bedrooms,
a bathroom with w.c. and another bathroom with a separate w.c. Attached to the house
was a tiled verandah, a wash house and a brick and tiled garage (10’ by 18’ 3’’)

Middle Cottage 2

Built in the late 1660s, probably by Thomas Browne, on the site of an orchard.

1670 - owned by Robert and Catharine Browne who were exempted from Hearth Tax on
the property.

1673 - it and the house next door were described as two tenements and 16 poles in
Preston

1681 - owned by Andrew Bowstred

1685 - described as cottage and 15 poles of land

1697 - owned by John Austin as three cottages ‘at Preston’.

1714 - in Survey of Rents as ‘John Austin, late Bowstred: Rent 4/6d

1727 - owned by Henry Wheeler, labourer, the late John Austin’s son-in-law. Now,
two cottages.

1754 - left to Henry’s daughter, Ann Coe, wife of John Coe of Hatfield in will dated
24 November 1754.

1797 - left to Thomas Coe, 15, Ann Coe’s grandson on death of Ann and John Coe.